Grieving children
Have we changed our approach towards grieving children in the past 50 years?
Fifty years ago, we looked very differently at grieving children. The accepted idea was that children did not grieve. We know better today. Research shows that not only can children suffer from prolonged grief, but also that it is important to help them early in the process. If, after 6 months, children still have a lot of complaints related to the loss it is advised to help them with a specific, grief-oriented treatment. Fortunately, in most of the cases professional help is not required. Even though the death of a parent may be viewed as one of the most tragic things
a child may have to deal with in their childhood, it appears that most of the children can overcome such a fundamental loss without professional help. An interesting question that remains unanswered is: will someone who lost a parent during their childhood still be (significantly) suffering from this 50 years on? And, more importantly: could this have been prevented by adequate help?